Forgive the length between updates. I've been trying to add to this at least once every five days, but work and holiday preparations have interfered. Just to pacify my inner nagging, I wrote this out as soon as I could. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Movie Night

One of the nice things about having Bouncing Boy as their new leader was the fact that he recognized the need for Legionnaires to have a chance to relax. Movie night was no exception. It was a time for everyone who was at the Tower to sit down and share snacks while they watched whatever was playing. Tonight was Bouncing Boy's turn to pick and it was pretty much a given that he was going to choose a horror movie.

Phantom Girl was curled up against the far right side of the couch, waiting for the others to arrive as Bouncing Boy got the movie set up. She knew that Trip would be getting snacks together for everyone and that Lightning Lad, Superman, and Timber Wolf would be back from patrol soon. Shrinking Violet and Brainiac had opted out of watching the movie in favor of working on some project or another, but that was just fine by Phantom Girl. Less people meant more treats for the rest of them.

When she felt a slight dip in the couch, she turned to see Timber Wolf sitting next to her. "I didn't hear you come in," she said, moving her legs so that she was sitting normally to give him more room. She glanced around. "Where are Lightning Lad and Superman?"

Timber Wolf shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care." He nodded in Bouncing Boy's direction. "What movie's he setting up?"

"Some horror movie or another that I haven't seen yet," Phantom Girl answered with a shudder. To be honest, she wasn't really a fan of horror movies, but she was trying to be more open-minded with her movie-watching habits. Trying, being the operative word. She looked at Timber Wolf. "Fair warning, I might spontaneously freak out sometime during the movie. So if you want to switch seats with somebody else, now is the time to do it."

"It's just a movie." Timber Wolf cocked an eyebrow at her. He found it hard to believe that she fought monsters and villains nearly every week without hesitation, but a movie could still freak her out. It didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"Doesn't matter," said Lightning Lad as he arrived, casually plopping himself in a cushioned chair a few feet away. "For some reason, horror movies seem to bring out the scared little girl in her."

Phantom Girl leaned forward to glare at him. "Remind me again who's afraid of a toy clown? I'm sure Captain Howdy would love to refresh my memory."

Lightning Lad started to rise from his seat, but the Trips suddenly rushed past him, each of them carrying something in their arms. One of them shoved a bowl of popcorn into his hands while another held out a soda. "Quiet down, both of you," she scolded. "The movie's about to start."

Both Lightning Lad and Phantom Girl exchanged one last glare as Triplicate Girl finished passing the snacks and drinks around to everyone. Since Superman was the last to arrive, he turned off the lights in the room before he too found somewhere to sit, and Bouncing Boy was able to start the movie. The opening scene began on an abandoned spaceship that looked like it had crash-landed in a marsh somewhere on Earth. As the movie introduced one of the main characters, Brin leaned over to Tinya.

"Who's Captain Howdy?" he asked softly.

Stifling a giggle, Tinya kept her eyes forward as she whispered back, "A toy clown that Lightning Lad used to be afraid of as a child. Apparently he was convinced that it hid under his bed and only came out during storms."

"You've got to be kidding me." Brin struggled to keep the amusement out of his voice but couldn't resist a grin when Tinya glanced at him to see his reaction. This little tidbit of information could prove handy the next time that Lightning Lad decided to hassle him about something. He tucked it away for later use and resumed watching the movie.

As the first character was dragged into the marsh, screaming, Tinya's hands moved to grip two solid items on either side of her. It wasn't until Brin cleared his throat that she realized one of the two things she was holding onto was his arm. Snatching her hand away, she shot him an apologetic grin. For the next thirty minutes of frightening disappearances and gory violence, she was able to keep her reactions under control (mostly). She was feeling quite proud of herself for not freaking out when suddenly the main protagonist was attacked from above by a spidery creature with slime oozing all over the place. Reacting on impulse, she latched onto the nearest person and buried her face in his shoulder. She ignored the silent shaking of laughter that she felt from her teammate, refusing to look at the screen again until she heard him murmur, "You can look now."

Brin almost started laughing again when Tinya carefully peeked over at the screen. By this point, the movie was almost done and all the gooey parts were over with. Watching the girl next to him, he was amused to see her sigh of relief. Apparently she hadn't been kidding when she'd warned him that she might freak out. Nevertheless, he didn't regret remaining in his chosen seat. He was sure that anyone else sitting next to her would have either pushed her off or drawn unwanted attention to her overreaction.

As the credits started rolling and they saw Superman going to turn the lights back on, Tinya released her hold on Brin. She carefully moved back to her original spot on the couch in the hopes that no one would notice what she'd been doing. She was already embarrassed enough that she'd been clinging to her best friend's arm like a little girl, and she didn't fancy anyone else knowing that she'd done so.

Brin saw the color rising in Tinya's face when the lights came on. Guessing the reason for her blush, he told her, "Don't worry, Tinya. I won't tell anyone."

She wouldn't meet his eyes, but she asked, "Promise?"

"I promise," he said, rising to his feet and holding out his hand to help her up. When she was standing in front of him, he waited for her to stop looking at the ground self-consciously. Finally, she managed to drag her gaze up to his, and he told her, "Next time there's a horror movie night, I'll be right here where you need me. That way, it'll be our secret. Okay?"

"Thanks Brin." Tinya's smile was soft as she stepped away to leave the room. She paused by the door, giving him one last grateful grin before she disappeared.

Not two seconds later, Lightning Lad was at his side, asking, "So… how did her Highness fare throughout the movie? Did she handle it well?"

Timber Wolf turned to Lightning Lad. Cocking his head slightly to the side as if considering, he answered, "I imagine she handled it better than you did when Captain Howdy came to play."

Lightning Lad scowled at him and spun on his heel, muttering, "I knew I shouldn't have told anyone about that."

Timber Wolf smirked as he started heading for the door to leave. Passing by Bouncing Boy on his way out, he said, "Oh, by the way, nice movie you picked out."

"I know! It's a classic," Bouncing Boy beamed, not knowing the true reason for Timber Wolf's comment, but that was okay. Only he needed to know about Tinya's horror movie coping mechanism.